Day: May 17, 2013

PLANO, Texas, Fri May 17, — J.C. Penney Co. Inc. CEO Myron Ullman told Wall Street on Thursday that the department store chain is emerging from what he called an abyss but warned he needs time to fix the issues of the retailer.
Penney reported another steep quarterly loss on weak sales and heavy clearance deals, but Ullman said the company has taken steps in recent weeks to reassure vendors, shore up its finances, and win back shoppers that defected after a move last year away from coupons.
“This won’t happen overnight,” Ullman said on a conference call with analysts, of Penney’s efforts to recover lost revenue. “Rest assured, we recognize the magnitude of the challenges that we face.”
Under Ullman, who returned as CEO last month to replace his successor Ron Johnson, Penney has secured a new $1.75 billion loan and brought back brands such as St. John’s Bay.
That brand alone brought in $1 billion in sales a year before Johnson dropped it for more fashionable lines.
The department store chain suffered a net loss of $348 million for the quarter ended May 4, or $1.58 per share, more than twice the $163 million, or 75 cents per share it lost last year. Gross profit margin fell 6.8 percentage points to 30.8 percent of sales as it slashed prices to move inventory.
Total sales fell 16.4 percent to $2.67 billion, in line with the company’s warning last week.
Despite the wider loss, shares slipped only 2 percent to $18.42 as analysts dismissed it as a remnant of the Johnson era.
The shares have climbed nearly 40 percent since Ullman returned to the chain, which is showing signs of getting back on track. Ullman was CEO from 2004 to 2011.
“Trends are improving — this is still a year of change. But things are stabilizing and traffic is improving,” said Marie Driscoll, an independent retail analyst, referring to the volume of visits by shoppers.
In addition to a new pricing strategy, Johnson’s vision was to roll out dozens of boutiques within Penney’s larger stores over the course of four years to showcase hipper, but affordable brands and offer exclusive merchandise.

Net income quadrupled to $2.62 billion, or 20 cents per share, from $653 million, or 3 cents per share a year earlier as expenses dropped and the bank set aside less money to cover bad loans. But total adjusted revenue fell 8.4 percent to $23.85 billion.

Analysts on average had expected BofA to earn 22 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

BofA shares dropped 3.3 percent before the bell to $11.88.

Earnings in the year-earlier period were affected by a host of one-time items including a $4.8 billion charge related to the value of its debt.

Chief Executive Brian Moynihan has made progress in building capital and settling mortgage-related lawsuits since taking over in January 2010. But he is under pressure to show that the bank can produce higher earnings at a time of low interest rates, stricter regulations and volatile economic conditions.

BofA, the last of the big four U.S. banks to report results, has pledged to cut $8 billion in expenses by mid-2015 and has said it could reduce expenses in its division that handles delinquent mortgages by $1 billion by the end of 2013.

The bank showed signs of progress in these efforts in the quarter, with total expenses falling 5.2 percent to $18.15 billion.

Like other big banks this quarter, Bank of America results were also boosted by reduced credit losses as borrowers did a better job of making their payments. The bank’s provision for loan losses fell 29.2 percent to $1.71 billion.

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